1. Field
The disclosed aspects relate to wireless communication devices, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for adapting the wireless communication device to environmental conditions and user behavior.
2. Background
Wireless communication devices have become a prevalent means by which majorities of people worldwide have come to communicate. Wireless communication devices have become smaller and more powerful in order to meet consumer needs and to improve portability and convenience. The increase in processing power in wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones has lead to an increase in demands on wireless network transmission systems. As wireless communication device capabilities expand, adaptive capabilities of such wireless communication devices become possible.
One problem that persists in wireless communication devices is the inability to hear, either the ring tone or caller, or detect a vibration in a noisy or distracting environment. Currently, in order for the device to overcome the noise/distraction problem the device user must manually adjust the volume of ring tone, the intensity of the vibration, the frequency of the ring tone/vibration and/or the microphone volume. Even if a user is cognizant of the current or impending noisy or distracting environment, the manual adjustment process is generally inconvenient and time-consuming to the user, often requiring the user to recall and provide various inputs to a system configuration application in order to adjust the ring tone volume/frequency, the vibration intensity/frequency and/or the microphone volume. In other instances, noisy or distracting environments may occur randomly without providing the user an opportunity to manually adjust the features within the device.
In the same regard, other features and functions on the communication device may be affected by environmental conditions. For example, displays on such devices have become the rule rather than the exception and the ability to properly view the display is dependent on the amount of ambient light. Typically, the display is difficult, if not impossible, to view in poorly lit environments or overly bright outdoor environments. When the device encounters such environments the user must make manual adjustments to the display features, such as display brightness, display contrast and the like, in order to be able to view the displayed information. Similar to the hearing and/or detecting problems related to noisy or distracting environment, the poorly lit or overly bright environment poses similar problems. Even if a user is aware of the current or impending lighting environment, the manual adjustment process is generally inconvenient, time-consuming and requires the user to recall and provide various inputs to a system configuration application in order to adjust the contrast and brightness. In other instances, poorly lit or over-bright environments may occur randomly without providing the user an opportunity to manually adjust the features within the device.
Additionally, as wireless communication devices provide increasingly more functionality, users of such devices rely on the device around the clock to carry out a myriad of everyday functions. For example, a user may daily rely on an alarm application to wake up in the morning, habitually use a news application to receive weather, sports, news and stock market information at routine time periods through out the day, launch a music application to listen to a specific genre of music at a prescribed time or make certain calls to certain individuals at the prescribed times throughout a day or a week. All of these functions and applications require the user to continuously, and in most instances redundantly, interface with the device. In many instances, continuous and redundant interface with the device adds inefficiency to the overall user experience.
Therefore a need exists to develop systems, methods and devices that sense and automatically, or with user acquiescence, adapt to environmental conditions and/or user usage patterns. Such a device will improve the user experience by eliminating the need to manually change device features based on current environmental conditions and/or redundantly perform functions, applications and the like that are undertaken by the user on a regular, daily, or weekly basis. The desired systems, methods and devices provider for a “smarter” wireless communication device that is able to automatically adapt to environmental conditions and user behavior patterns.